The University of Mississippi Athletics
Johnson, Thomas Receive Eugenia Conner Award
4/17/2010 | Athletics
OXFORD, Miss. - Senior soccer player Danielle Johnson of Baton Rouge, La., and senior basketball player Bianca Thomas of Henderson, Tenn., have were co-recipients of the 2010 Eugenia Conner Memorial Award Saturday during Grove Bowl festivities.
The award honors the memory of the late Eugenia Conner, a four-time All-SEC center on the Lady Rebel basketball team from 1981 to 1985, and is presented each year to a junior or senior female student-athlete that exemplifies a true Lady Rebel with character and leadership, both on and off the court.
With a standout senior season, Johnson became the first Rebel soccer player to receive All-SEC and All-Region honors all four years when she was named to the first team in 2009. She moved from defender to the midfield this past season and flourished with five goals and four assists.
The 5-foot-5 athlete was taken by the New Jersey Sky Blue in this year's Women's Professional Soccer league draft, and she made her professional debut in last week's season opener as a defender.
Off the field, Johnson maintained an impressive grade point average throughout her college career and was tabbed a Scholar All-American by the NSCAA as a senior. She was also a member of the 2009 Southeastern Conference Community Service team and the Ole Miss nominee for the H. Boyd McWhorter Post-Graduate Scholarship.
An All-SEC first team selection, Thomas finished the 2009-10 season first in the SEC in scoring and 10th in the nation with 20.9 points per game and became just the third player in school history to average over 20.0 points per game for an entire season. The 5-foot-10 guard became the first Rebel since Jennifer Gillom in 1986 to lead the conference in scoring.
Thomas, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks in the first round of the recent WNBA Draft, also finished her career sixth all-time at Ole Miss in scoring with 1,511 career points and her 670 points this season is tied for fifth on the school's all-time list.
She was also a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, the State Farm All-America team and the Cellular South Gillom Trophy this year.